Howard the Duck
Directed by Willard Huyck
- comedy
- adventure
- science fiction
The story
A scientific experiment unknowingly brings extraterrestrial life forms to the Earth through a laser beam. First is the cigar-smoking drake, Howard, from the duck's planet. A few kids try to keep him from the greedy scientists and help him back to his planet, but then a much less friendly being arrives through the beam...
What it’s like
Bright, flat 1980s studio lighting over sets that look like ordinary Cleveland-style apartments, bars and laboratories, with a slightly cheap, rounded glow that suits its comic-book origins. The camera mostly stays at eye level in tidy medium shots, letting the costumed duck sit among human actors and making the strangeness feel domestic. The score is bouncy synth and orchestral pop, punctuated by goofy sound effects, and the whole film has a buoyant, slightly overcaffeinated energy. Its vibe is silly, warm and a little chaotic, best suited to a lazy afternoon or a nostalgic comfort watch with someone who enjoys campy practical effects. Pacing is brisk and jokey, with sudden swerves into action and sci-fi spectacle. Emotionally it is light: a grumpy, witty outsider finds an unlikely friendship with a young woman and her friends. Intensity is mild, with cartoonish peril, some crude humour and brief adult innuendo, but no gore and little real menace. It is for viewers who want playful, offbeat escapism and don't mind a ridiculous premise taken earnestly.
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